Social Queue (2021)
I thought I was nobody’s teen crush, but turns out I was just missing the signs.
Zoe Kelly is starting a new phase of her life. High school was a mess of bullying and autistic masking that left her burnt out and shut down. Now, with an internship at an online media company—the first step on the road to her dream writing career—she is ready to reinvent herself. But she didn’t count on returning to her awkward and all-too-recent high-school experiences for her first writing assignment.
When her piece, about her non-existent dating life, goes viral, eighteen-year-old Zoe is overwhelmed and more than a little surprised by the response. But, with a deadline and a list of romantic contenders from the past to reconnect with for her piece on dating, she is hoping one of her old sparks will turn into a new flame.
Social Queue is a funny and heart-warming autistic story about deciphering the confusing signals of attraction and navigating a path to love.
Teaching notes are available here. Social Queue was shortlisted for the Queensland Literary Awards and was a Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) 2022 Notables book.
What people are saying:
‘Kay Kerr burst onto the YA scene with her 2020 debut Please Don’t Hug Me, and Social Queue confirms her as an important voice in the representation of the neurodiverse experience—as well as a skilled writer of young adult fiction.’
– Books+Publishing
‘A perceptive, honest, and warmly captivating romantic comedy that touched my heart. I adored it!’
– Helen Hoang, author of The Kiss Quotient
‘An authentic, heart-warming, and witty exploration of dating, identity, and reflection on high school life…One of the best books I have read this year.’
– CBCA Reading Time
‘Utterly endearing and 100% heart-warming, I loved Zoe and I loved this book. Once I started, I couldn’t put it down; I was absolutely on Team Zoe! Thank you Kay Kerr, what a smash-hit, honest read.’
– Australian Romance Readers’ Association
‘This story is both humorous as well as heart warming, as Zoe finds her way through the tangle of misunderstood and complicated social queues, ready to find love. A great book representing the neurodiverse experience.’
– Magpies: Talking About Books for Children magazine
‘‘Kay Kerr’s second novel Social Queue(Text Publishing 2021) is another fantastic YA deep dive into big emotions and all the feelings that come with that liminal time between adolescence and young adulthood.’